2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Education in California
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
General Education is the 28th most popular major in the country with 29,936 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.
Across California, there were 7,838 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 697 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, we looked at 12 colleges that offer a degree in general education. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general education programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the general education program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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More Ways to Rank General Education Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California.
Top 12 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Education in California
Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Irvine landed the #1 spot on the list. UC Irvine is a large school located in Irvine, California that handed out 367 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
UC Irvine also made our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for UC Irvine is $14,783 for California Bachelor’s Degree General Education students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Located in La Jolla, California, this large public school awarded 11 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s general education students in 2019-2020.
UCSD also took the #3 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of California - San Diego is $14,232 for California Bachelor’s Degree General Education students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northcentral University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. This fairly large school is located in San Diego, California, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
Northcentral University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #11 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Read more about General Education at Northcentral University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Vanguard University of Southern California. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. This small school is located in Costa Mesa, California, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
Vanguard did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $20,051 for California Bachelor’s Degree General Education students per year to attend Vanguard.
The student loan default rate at the school is 4.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Hope International University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. Located in Fullerton, California, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 21 degrees to qualified bachelors’s general education students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Hope, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $20,318 for california bachelor’s degree general education students per year to attend Hope International University.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.
Mills College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. Mills College is a small school located in Oakland, California that handed out 1 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
Mills also made our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #10. The yearly cost to attend Mills is $22,202 for California Bachelor’s Degree General Education students.
The low student loan default rate of 2.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Biola University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking, coming in at #8. Biola is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in La Mirada, California. It awarded 16 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
Biola also took the #6 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Biola University is $31,859 for California Bachelor’s Degree General Education students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Mount Saint Mary’s University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking, coming in at #9. Located in Los Angeles, California, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 4 degrees to qualified bachelors’s general education students in 2019-2020.
MSMU also took the #7 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend MSMU is $29,214 for california bachelor’s degree general education students.
Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
University of La Verne landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. La Verne, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s general education degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.
ULV not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #12 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $25,780 for California Bachelor’s Degree General Education students per year to attend ULV.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Chapman University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. This medium-sized school is located in Orange, California, and it awarded 46 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Chapman, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Chapman is $41,350 for california bachelor’s degree general education students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
University of Southern California ranked #12 on this year’s Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. This large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree general education students list, USC has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for USC is $29,528 for California Bachelor’s Degree General Education students.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Education in the Far Western US Region
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Education
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Notes and References
References
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
Footnotes
- *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
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